Look Back at Hitchcock's Leading Ladies

11 Classic Beauty Looks From Hitchcock's Leading Ladies

From Grace Kelly to Kim Novak, there's no denying Alfred Hitchcock had a penchant for icy blondes. And while light-haired actresses were often featured in his thrilling, suspenseful films, there were a few brunettes, like Ingrid Bergman and Audrey Hepburn, who made for some variety. Hitchcock, the biographical drama that takes a closer look at the life of the oft-controversial director, debuts in Australia on January 10. So in honour of the film's upcoming release, take a glimpse back at some classic hair and makeup looks worn by Hitchcock's leading ladies.

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While he had already been making films for years by the time 1935's The 39 Stepsdebuted, actress Madeleine Carroll is often considered the original "Hitchcock blonde." And a bevy of icy-haired leading ladies followed suit for years to come.

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Ingrid Bergman starred in multiple Hitchcock films, including Notorious, Under Capricorn, and Spellbound. She was one of the director's favourite brunette leading ladies, and they remained friends for life.

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Perhaps the most famous of all Hitchcock's blonde leads, Grace Kelly often wore her hair in perfectly coiffed waves styled up and away from her face. The eventual princess starred in three of his films: Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, and To Catch a Thief.

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Fun fact: evolutionarily speaking, blonde hair has only been around about 11,000 years. Another fun fact: blonde actress Doris Day sang her classic hit "Que Sera, Sera" in Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much.

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Kim Novak, the actress who wore the swirly French twist in Vertigo, once told Roger Ebert, "I don't know if he [Hitchcock] ever liked me. During the shooting, he never really told me what he was thinking."

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Now 88, Eva Marie Saint recently admitted that while attempting to score the role opposite Cary Grant in North by Northwest, she took the advice of her mother. "She somehow knew that he [Hitchcock] liked beige," Eva told Vanity Fair. "And Mum says, 'And he likes ladies with white gloves.' So I wore white gloves."

And when the interviewer suggested Eva's mum also realised just how much the director liked blondes, Eva quipped, "He did. But Mum didn't know that."

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She endured perhaps the most famous murder (and shower) scene in Hollywood history. But Psycho's Janet Leigh admitted filming the iconic shot over the course of seven days wasn't all that bad. "Mr. Hitchcock had been very thoughtful in making sure that the water was warm," she recalled in a 1987 interview.

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When asked about being one of the great screen beauties earlier this year, Tippi Hedren of The Birds and Marnie fame modestly replied, "Beauty is what beauty does . . . I'm very grateful to my parents for teaching me that life is what should be beautiful and not just a reflection looking back at you in the mirror."

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Jessica Biel and Scarlett Johansson are the latest blondes to join Hitchcock history. In Hitchcock, Scarlett replays Janet Leigh's epic shower scene, while Jessica portrays actress Vera Miles. But will the two women live up to the director's high standards? We think so.